For two days, floods have plagued parts of the Red River Valley.
And though the damage resulting from the heavy rainfall has been significant in areas, Leon Osborne said it could have been worse.
"In many ways, we dodged a big bullet," said Osborne, University of North Dakota professor and director of the Regional Weather Information Center in Grand Forks.
Osborne said the warm air mass hovering over the region limited the amount of thunderstorm activity that could occur.
"We've seen this type of thing a number of times over the years," Osborne said.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the National Weather Service, Fargo received 3 to 4.5 inches of rain over the weekend. The Ada, Minn., area was the hardest hit, and more rain is expected this week.
Located in UND's Odegard Hall, the Regional Weather Information Center makes research and post-analysis of weather occurrences its business.
Osborne said he already has received requests by government and agricultural groups to analyze this particular weather event.
The weather center also supports UND's Department of Atmospheric Sciences in operational weather analysis, forecasting and broadcasting activities.
Two primary research tools, a 5-cm wavelength Doppler weather radar and an instrumented Cessna Citation II research jet aircraft, are deployed in national and international research programs.
Undergraduate and graduate students, along with faculty and staff are on-hand throughout the year conducting research.
"We're big into experiential learning here," Osborne said. "Our emphasis is research. We also do a lot of post-analysis."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mary Jo Almquist at (701) 241-5531
